Watch Your Back
by CasiNight
Summary: When Danny is severely injured on a case, Steve and him confront just what being partners means. NOT SLASH but a lot of friendship. Danny whump and worried Steve. Kind of a long one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Hawaii Five -O fic that I've published and I'm really excited about what you guys think. I love the relationship between Danny and Steve and really just wanted to write a story about the friendship between the two. Please enjoy :)**

Steve looked at the man over the barrel of his gun. They had been chasing the man for days now and had finally tracked him down to this old shipping container yard. Danny was by his side, gun out and pointing at the same man Steve's gun was pointed at. The man smirked at Steve and sarcastically put his hands up.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. You have succeeded in cornering me." His evil smirk made Steve uneasy and he was glad that he had called for backup already, after an argument with Danny.

"You're under arrest. Book him, Danno." Steve still had his gun trained on the man as an uneasy feeling grew in the pit of his stomach.

"Ah, but you see, McGarrett? How will he get me when he's injured?"

That's when the sniper rifle rang out and Danny collapsed, clutching his left side rib cage area with his right hand, his gun skittering away.

"Danny?!" Steve was about to go to him when he remembered the man in front of him. He froze and looked at the man, gun still pointed and expecting another shot to ring out and signal that he too had been shot.

The man must have read his mind. "No, you will not be injured. I don't need to waste the ammunition. Your loyalty lies with your friend." Another evil smirk spread across his face. "The choice is yours. Catch me and let your partner die, or save him and let me escape. Your decision."

A noise next to him made Steve look down. "Don't worry about me, Steve. Go get him." When Steve looked back up, it was too late. The man was gone and the puddle next to Danny was growing. Steve's mind was decided in an instant.

Steve holstered his gun and noticed the wheezing and gurgling coming from his brother. "Danny? Danny, can you hear me?" Steve pulled Danny into his arms, placing one hand over Danny's on his wound to try and increase the pressure and stop the bleeding. Blood trickled down the corner of Danny's jaw and Steve knew that the fear he held was true. The bullet had passed through the ribcage and damaged a lung. How badly, Steve had no idea until they could get him to a hospital, something he really needed to do.

Danny looked like he was in between agony and annoyance. "Steven, I thought I told you to go get that guy."

"Daniel, when have I ever been good at following orders?" Steve smiled at the normal banter that Danny was still able to carry even as he choked on his own blood.

Sirens sounded in the distance as Danny smiled and gave his usual chuckle which turned to a harsh, gurgling cough.

Steve felt his eyes water as he took his free hand and placed it on Danny's chest, pushing back his own tears and trying to give his brother any comfort he could. "Shh, Danno. Calm down." Steve let his head droop and fall against Danny's. "Easy. You're doing good. I need you to try and match your breathing to mine, ok?" Steve began to breath in short, shallow breaths, his hopes rising when he heard and felt Danny match it. "Good job, Danno."

Danny smiled and winced, his voice becoming weaker with every word he spoke. "Steve, there's something I need you to promise me."

Steve looked at the sky for a moment, trying to hide the single tear that rolled down his face. "Don't even go there, Danno. You're going to be fine, ok?"

"Please, Steve?" Danny asked, turning pleading, pain filled eyes on his partner, waiting for him to nod. "Tell Grace that Danno loves her."

Steve smiled with the thought that even with all that was happening, the one thing that Danny still cared most about was his daughter. "Danno . . ." He looked down and his voice disappeared. Danny's eyes were closed and Steve couldn't feel him breathing. "Danny!"

"Please, sir. Take a step back."

It took Steve a moment to realize that the paramedics had arrived and that's who was speaking to him. It took him another moment to understand and lay Danny gently on the ground.

The paramedics went to work, forcing oxygen into his lungs, as he had stopped breathing on his own, and inserting an IV. Not wanting to take too long to get Danny to the hospital, Danny was quickly loaded up and transported.

Steve couldn't do anything as he stood, staring at the spot where Steve had last seen the ambulance. He stood that way for about a minute until he felt two people near him.

Chin watched as Steve slowly came back to the present and looked at him and Kono. His voice cracked as he looked down at his hands, which were stained with blood. _Danny's blood. _Glancing at his two friends before looking back at his hands, he was able to only get out one word. "Hey." Suddenly, his legs didn't want to seem to want to hold him and he sank to the concrete, Chin and Kono instantly panicking as they searched for any unseen injury.

"Steve! Steve, are you okay? Are you hit?" Kono's eyes were frantic as they searched Steve's face.

Realizing what had just happened, Steve came back to the present and began to stand again. "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's get going, I want to be there when Danny gets out of surgery."

The cousins looked at each other and then at their boss before following.

To Steve, time was passing way too slow. The ticking of the clock seemed to mock him on how long it took to get his partner through surgery. He hadn't sat still since he arrived at the hospital, going between pacing and sitting, his knee bouncing at 3 times the pace that the clock was ticking. Nightmare worthy images of Danny lying in his arms, choking on his own blood flashed through his head along with one thought.

Danny had died in his arms.

That one thought nearly brought Steve to tears. The simple idea that his brother had died in his arms like some dramatic scene in a TV show. And then there was Rachel. She and Grace were in Las Vegas with Stan for the weekend. Steve had called Rachel when he arrived at the hospital and had listened to the tears and pleas of the a child in the background asking "Where's Danno?"

Danny had only been shot and the call had been heart wrenching. What if the doctor came back and had only bad news and Steve had to call back and tell them that Danny hadn't made it.

Those four words in Steve's thoughts completely broke down the wall Steve had been trying desperately to build since he had realized that Danny had died in his arms.

A tear rolled down Steve's cheek and he had to act quickly to intercept it and brush it away. Danny would be fine. There was no question about it. No matter how long it took or how painful it was, Steve would get Danny back, for Grace . . . for his team . . . and for himself.

_I've been hit. I'm bleeding out. I'm going to die. But Steve. Steve's alone. No one's watching his back. _

_Help Steve._

_Sniper. Steve's going to get taken out by a sniper. But I've already been hit. _

_I'm going to die._

_Help Steve. _

_I'm bleeding out. _

_Help Steve. _

_Grace. I'll never see Grace again. _

_Help Steve. _

_Help Steve. _

"Wake up, Danno!"

_Help Steve._

"Wake up!

_Help!_

Danny bolted awake, drenched in sweat with a worried looking SEAL sitting on the edge of the bed. "Danny? Are you okay?"

Danny looked around Steve's guest bedroom as events came flooding back. The shooting, his recovery, and the fact that tomorrow was his first day back to work in a month. He nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. It was just a nightmare."

Steve gave a sad smile and nodded. "Obviously." Taking a deep breath, he tried to block out the images of Danny being shot down right next to him from his mind, the nightmares that had been plaguing him for the past month. Apparently, he wasn't the only one. "Danny, if you need more time, that's fine. You don't have to go to work tomorrow. Sometimes, nightmares mean that you aren't ready and that you just need more time." He looked up to see Danny glaring at him.

"Sorry, Steve, but you're going to have to try a lot harder to keep me from going into work. This is one of those things that gets better after I go back into work. The same thing happened when I got poisoned. I had nightmares, went back to work, and got better. No problem. I just need to be able to . . ." Danny seemed to lose his train of thought as his eyes got distant.

Steve knew immediately that Danny was thinking about the dream. "You need to be able to do what, Daniel?"

Danny came back and ran his hands through his hair, taking a deep breath before looking at Steve. "I need to be able to watch your back. That's been the worst part of this month. The idea that there would be no one to watch your back and control you."

Steve smiled and shook his head, amused at the usage of the work 'control'. Draping an arm across Danny's shoulders, he pulled his friend closer to him, trying desperately to get his point across. "Listen to me, Danno. We're partners, and that goes two ways, not just one. So, I have to be able to have your back too. You know what was the worst part of this month for m? The idea that you were shot right next to me and I couldn't have YOUR back. That I had failed in my mission as a partner . . . a friend . . . a brother." Danny smiled and so did Steve, happy that his message was coming through. "So just remember that, Danno. That you're my partner too and I need to be able to have your back, alright?"

Danny nodded, smiling. The heavy weight of his guilt lifted off his shoulders and he felt fatigue pull at him. Looking over at the clock on the nightstand, he saw that it was only 11:30 at night. "Sorry for waking you, babe."

Steve smiled and shook his head, a small chuckle escaping. "Don't sweat it, I wasn't sleeping."

Danny looked confused as he asked the only logical question that came to mind. "What were you doing?"

"Reading," was the sum of Steve's reply, and he smiled as Danny came in with his usual short monologue, prepared especially for times such as these.

"Read? You can read? Since when have you known how to read, you Neanderthal?"

Steve rolled his eyes and pretended to be offended. "You don't really doubt my intelligence to that degree, do you Danno?"

"Hey, I have no way of knowing what they taught you in that crazy Army school." Weariness was quickly overtaking him and Danny didn't know how much longer he would be able to stay awake.

Steve sighed, though the smile never left his face. "Navy, Danny. It was the Navy."

Danny yawned as he threw out his last word. "Whatever."

Steve smiled and slowly stood up and gently nudged Danny to lie back down. "Go to sleep, Danno. You've got a busy day tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Steven," Danny said, quickly falling asleep as he sank into the pillow.

Steve pulled the blanket closer up to Danny's chin and turned off the light. Walking towards the door, he grabbed the handle and began to pull the door closed, pausing only to turn and look at his sleeping partner and friend. "Goodnight, Daniel." Closing the door, he went back downstairs, happy in the idea that he had Danny back.

**Did you like it? Let me know by reviewing! If you did and you would like me to publish more, just let me know in the review and I will be sure to publish some. Later! **


	2. Chapter 2

**This story was supposed to be only one chapter, but due to the overwhelming number of people who desired another chapter, I was only too happy to put one out. I cant describe how good it feels to have people who like my work. Here is the second chapter and I'm sorry, but it will be the last for this story, but dont worry. I will be posting a new story soon! I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the last one. Please read and review, but most importantly, ENJOY! Thanks**

* * *

The two partners strode into the office, carrying an air of excitement and trepidation. They and the rest of the members of the 5-O team knew what hadn't been done in the month that Danny was out of action and they were all looking forward to bringing him in. Mason Blaise was still in Hawaii, due to the crack down on transportation that Chin and Kono had done, and the team was very anxious to take down the man that had almost been responsible for the death of one of their team members.

Kono was the first one to speak as Chin was currently speaking on the phone. "We have all of our contacts out on the street, asking questions about Blaise along with some uniformed officers walking the streets."

"Alright, thanks." Steve, Danny, and Kono looked towards Chin as he hung up and put his phone in his pocket. "I just got a call from a contact and he thinks that he may know where Blaise is."

Steve smiled as Chin gave him the address and was already heading for the door as he yelled for Chin to call some backup. He glanced next to himself and saw Danny keeping a brisk pace next to him. It was much different from the slow pace they had kept on their walks in the hospital. It felt good to have his partner back on the job and that thought made him smile just in time for Danny to glance up and look at him.

"And what's that face for?" Danny asked immediately going to the passenger side of his silver Camaro as Steve went to the driver's side.

"What face?" Steve asked as he climbed into the car, the smile still on his lips.

"That face. The big, goofy smile face that makes me wonder if you blew something up without me knowing about it." Danny looked at his partner as Steve acted like he was totally focused on backing the car out and getting on the road.

"No, Danny. I didn't blow anything up . . . yet." He pulled into the road and quickly increased speed, heading towards the location that Chin had told him, weaving in and out of lanes. He saw Danny cringing next to him and smiled again. It really hadn't been the same without him. "It's just really good to have you back."

"Well," Danny began as he grabbed the chicken bar when Steve came especially close to someone. "I hope I'm alive later to share your sentiments."

"You don't trust me, Danno?" Steve said, glancing over at Danny with feigned hurt eyes.

Danny didn't take his eyes off the road. "Never said that. I trust you for the most part, just not your motor vehicle skills-Watch out!"

Steve swerved around one car and dove into a side lane, slowing down until he came to a stop in front of an old, dilapidated looking house. "We're here," Steve said with a small grin.

The house they had stopped in front of was small and crumbling. Its front porch had railings that were falling apart and the front of the house showed windows that were semi-boarded up.

"Well, isn't this nice," Danny said as he climbed out of the car and walked around to the back at the same time as Steve.

Opening the trunk, they began to pull on their tactical vests. As Steve watched Danny put his vest on, his mind flashed back to when Danny was still in the hospital.

* * *

_Steve walked into the hospital two weeks after Danny had been injured. Danny was situated comfortably situated in the recovery ward and his doctor was standing at the desk putting a file away. "Hey, doc!" Steve called out, rushing forward to catch up with the busy man. "How's Danny?"_

_The doctor smiled. "He's getting better. We got him off the IV today and we will probably let him go in a few days. He's still on pain medication and will probably be for another week or two, that's the reason that we're still keeping him here, for observation to make sure that his pain medication is the right kind for him."_

_Steve nodded and let out a breath he had been holding. "Thanks, doc. You don't know how good that sounds. His wife will be really happy to hear. They're still on the mainland." _

_The doctor nodded. "I see. He should be awake if you would like to talk to him."_

_"Thanks, doc," Steve said, already beginning to walk away backwards, "Thanks for everything." _

_Steve came to Danny's door at the same time as a nurse was coming out. Steve smiled when he noticed the good looks of the nurse. Going inside, he saw Danny sitting on the edge of the bed dressed in a pair of black sweat pants with a gray t-shirt in his hands. He looked a lot happier in normal clothes than he had in the hospital gown. The only thing to show that he had been seriously injured was the large, white gauze pad on his side and the occasional twinge of pain that flashed across his features when he moved his left arm. His features lit up when he saw Steve, though, and a wide smile broke across his face. "Hi, Steve!" _

_"I take it you're happy to see me. I just saw your nurse and I don't know why you would be sad, though. Does Gabby know what a flirt you are?"Steve said, looking at his friend._

_Danny shrugged. "I like to think that it's the reason she likes me. How have you guys been?"_

_"Fine. We're kind of liking the quiet of the office with you gone." Steve said sarcastically, smiling._

_"You know you guys miss me." Danny said, pulling the shirt over his head and getting his right arm through. Upon raising his left, however, a pained hiss escaped him. _

_Steve's eyes turned sad and he crossed the space between the door and the bed in two strides, coming next to Danny and grabbing the shirt and his arm. "Let me help, Danno." _

_"I'm not a baby, Steven," Danny said, even as he allowed Steve to gently raise his arm and get the shirt over it._

_"Never said you were, Daniel." Steve said, letting go of Danny's arm and slowly leaning against the bed next to Danny, watching his friend put his hand over where the wound was. "Are you okay, Danno?"_

_"Just peachy. Getting shot is so much fun."He said, before looking at the sincere look in Steve's eyes. He sighed and spoke quietly. "I'm ok, Steve. I'm just ready to get out of here."_

_Steve smiled and nodded. "I know, Danno. I know. Doc said that you should be out of here in a few days." _

_"Good." Danny said. A devious grin came across his face and looked at Steve. "You want to go for a walk?"_

_"Oh, yeah!" Steve said, jumping up and heading for the hallway for a wheelchair. _

_"Steve," Danny said, calling from where he was still sitting on the bed. Steve stopped and turned around, looking at his smiling partner. "Thanks."_

_"You're welcome, Danno." _

* * *

"Steve?"

Steve came back to the present to Danny looking at him oddly, and Steve smiled because he knew that Danny was questioning his sanity right about now. "Yes, Danny?"

"You with me?" Danny asked, looking sideways at his partner.

"Yeah. I was just thinking." Steve said.

Chin and Kono pulled in at that moment and Steve went instantly into the mindset that made him such a great Navy SEAL. They devised their plan quickly and efficiently, planning that Chin and Kono would go around back while Danny and Steve would go in from the front. The broke apart, heading towards their stations quietly and quickly.

Danny and Steve stood on either side of the door, guns drawn and minds set on bringing Blaise in. Steve was smiling, despite the seriousness of their current situation. Danny looked at him, a smile in his eyes. "What's the matter with you, Steve?"

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Steve said, preparing himself.

"Yeah. It does. You want to do the honors?" Danny asked, gesturing towards the door with his head.

"Yes." Steve backed up in front of the door and kicked it down, allowing Danny to go in on a crouch, his gun sweeping the rooms as he made his way inside.

Movement to Steve's left caused him to look over and see Blaise jumping out the window. He chased him around the front of the house and stopped, gun strained on Blaise's fleeing back. "Freeze! 5-O!"

Blaise stopped and slowly put his hands up, the same way he had done when Danny and Steve had cornered him. He slowly turned, an arrogant smile upon his face and put his hands down. "Now this is a familiar scene, wouldn't you say Lt. Commander?"

"Shut up. You're under arrest." Steve began to walk forward but stopped when Blaise put his hand up.

"I have come to learn that cutting off the limbs of a tree does nothing to halt its growth unless you cut down the tree itself. There is a sniper on the second story of the house. He is ordered to fire when he feels that I am in danger. Goodbye, McGarrett." Blaise said as a shot rang out.

* * *

But Steve was void of any pain. He didn't feel the familiar sting of a bullet and then the shearing pain that accompanied it. "Well, Mr. Blaise? Where's this sniper of yours?"

Blaise looked just as confused as Steve felt and they both glanced over to see Kono running forward, her own gun hanging limply in her hands as she ran over.

"We got the sniper," she said upon reaching him.

"Good. Arrest him." Steve watched Kono cuff him just as some more units pulled up, lights flashing as officers poured out.

Steve turned to see Danny walking out of the house, Chin following with a wounded sniper in custody, and walked over to see him. "Call an ambulance for him and get heavy security to make sure he stays." As Chin walked away, Steve turned towards a smiling Danny and took a deep breath. "Did you shoot him?"

Danny thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."

Steve nodded. "Did it feel good? Getting him?"

Danny sighed. "I've been spending too much time with you."

"Why?" Steve asked, confused.

"Because I did enjoy it." Danny and Steve looked at each other and both smiled.

"Come on, Danno. Drinks on me tonight." Steve said, clapping a hand on Danny's shoulder and leading him towards the car and away from one of the hardest times in their lives.

The End

* * *

**Did you like it? Let me know! Thanks for reading. A new story is on its way! **


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